1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telescopic stand for inanimate objects, and more particularly to an internal telescopic stand that can be shortened to conveniently store or transport inanimate objects.
2. Description of Related Art
Inanimate objects are used extensively in commercial promotions, decorative applications or celebrations. The inanimate objects can be in the form of large inanimate figures of people, such as Santa Claus, leprechauns, the Easter Bunny, etc., or large decorative objects, such as Christmas trees, national monuments, etc. The inanimate objects today are animated to sing, dance or swing to attract people""s attention. Various actuating devices are built or mounted inside the inanimate objects to achieve the designed animation. Therefore, the inanimate objects are often bulky and occupy a large space such that storing and transporting the inanimate objects is inconvenient.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, an internal telescopic stand in accordance with the prior art inside an inanimate object (not numbered) comprises a top bracket (41), a medial bracket (42), a base (43), multiple telescopic tubes (44) and multiple lock assemblies (not numbered). The base (43) has a top surface (not numbered) and two foundation blocks (not numbered) that are rectangular parallelepipeds, are mounted parallel to each other on the top surface of the base (43) and have top surfaces (not numbered).
The telescopic tubes (44), are spring-loaded inside are respectively mounted between the top bracket (41) and the medial bracket (42) and the medial bracket (42) and the two foundation blocks. Each telescopic tube (44) has an inner tube (441) and an outer tube (442). The inner tube (441) is retractably mounted in the outer tube (442).
The lock assemblies are respectively mounted between the two brackets (41, 42) and the medial bracket (42) and the base (43) and comprise lock rods (451) and lock sockets (452). The lock rods (451) protrude down respectively from the top and the medial brackets (41, 42), and each lock rod (451) has a locking stub (not numbered) extending radially from the lock rod (451). The lock sockets (452) are defined respectively in the tops of the medial bracket (42) and the foundation blocks, correspond to the lock rods (451) and have internal locking slots (not shown) corresponding to the locking stubs.
When the inner tubes (441) of the telescopic tubes (44) retract into the outer tubes (442), the locking stubs on the lock rods (451) are drawn respectively into the lock sockets (452) and engage the locking slots in the locking sockets (452) to hold the inanimate object in a retracted state. Therefore, the inanimate objects will occupy a reduced volume so the inanimate objects can be conveniently stored or transported.
However, the conventional telescopic stand can only be shortened to the extend that the telescopic tubes (44) can be shortened with the inner tubes (441) retracting into the outer tubes (442). Consequently, a conventional telescopic stand has a minimum height equal to a sum of the thicknesses of the two brackets (41, 42), the base (43) and a foundation block and the lengths of an outer tube (442) between the foundation block and the medial bracket (42) and the two brackets (42, 41). Further reducing the minimum height of the telescopic stand will make storing or transporting the inanimate object more convenient.
When the telescopic tubes (44) are extended to support an inanimate object, the conventional telescopic stand does not have any features to hold the extended telescopic tubes (44) in position. Since the telescopic tubes (44) are spring-loaded to keep the telescopic tubes (44) in a extended state, a heavy weight of the inanimate object will compress the extended telescopic tubes (44) such that the inanimate object cannot be held stably in an extended state.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an internal telescopic stand for an inanimate object to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide an internal telescopic stand for an inanimate object that can be shortened to a retracted position such that the inanimate object can be conveniently stored or transported.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.